Working Women in This Country Now Get Better Protection

According to a brand new bill, Pakistani women are now better protected against violence and harassment in the workplace, an expansion most welcome in the fight for women’s rights to be respected.

The Ministry of Human Rights consulted extensively women rights groups and lawyers to present a more comprehensive draft of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Even the definition of harassment has been reviewed to include “discrimination on the basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature.”

The bill now recognizes both formal and informal workplaces, and specifically includes domestic workers. Students are now also protected through this law. The bill goes as far as modernizing the complaint process and including specific protections designed to prevent retaliation.